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At the pride walk on Sunday morning. (Express photo by Rajesh Stephen)

Written by Jayali Wavhal

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More than 40 unmasked members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community participated in the first Pride Walk in Pimpri-Chinchwad on Sunday morning.

The 1.5-km walk started from Nano Homes Society near the Sant Tukaram Bridge in Ravet at 11 am. Bindumadhav Khire, president of Sampathik Trust, Pune, which organised the walk, said, “Generally, LGBTI members wear masks during pride walks as they aren’t comfortable expressing their identity freely in the public, but the PCMC pride walk saw no such masked member, which was a big success for us.”

He also praised the police for the security they provided, saying, “We were not sure if they would help us in organising the pride walk. But they were quite understanding and were present at the event in large numbers to protect and support us. It was nice to see their support,” he added.

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The walk was organised after Anil Ukarande, a law student in the city, approached Sampathik Trust. Ukarande expressed his gratitude to the Supreme Court for striking down Section 377 to exclude consenting adults from its purview.

Infosys, one of India’s largest corporates, also participated in the pride walk for the first time. Joseph Monis from Infosys HR took the responsibility of designing and printing the multiple banners for the pride walk and also carrying them till the end.